The Ignored Granddaughter of a Murim Family - Chapter 128

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 128
* * *
Footsteps approached through the garden as darkness settled in.
“They parted sooner than expected. I thought they’d talk much longer.”
The Servant took the bird that had been perched on Seok Ga-yak’s arm and placed it back into the cage he’d brought—a common street bird, not one typically kept as a pet.
“He said he needed to return home quickly. He’d left it vacant for too long, apparently.”
“Don’t feel sorry about it. You need rest too. Remember, your wounds are still severe.”
Seok Ga-yak appeared to be listening halfheartedly. Once the Servant carrying the cage had moved away, Seok Tae-ui spoke again.
“Did you discuss it?”
“Discuss what?”
“About that ability.”
“No, I didn’t.”
Seok Tae-ui’s expression showed disbelief.
Seok Ga-yak asked calmly.
“Should I have asked?”
“Of course you should have…!”
Seok Ga-yak cut off Seok Tae-ui’s words and spoke.
“But she didn’t ask either. So how could I ask?”
“What?”
“She never asked Tae-ui what he’d told her, or why these wounds came to be. She didn’t ask anything.”
Baek Li-yeon had not inquired about the story behind Seok Ga-yak’s wounds. Because of that, Seok Ga-yak couldn’t ask about Baek Li-yeon’s ability either. He had no intention of revealing his own secrets about his wounds.
An unspoken agreement. I won’t ask, so don’t you ask either. They could understand each other’s intentions without words.
Seok Ga-yak smiled faintly.
“She only asked if it was alright to keep meeting.”
“…And what did you say?”
Seok Tae-ui remained silent for a moment before asking.
“I said it was fine. I explained it simply—that there’s someone who dislikes standing out, and someone who’s wary of learning the sword… that sort of thing.”
“So she just let it go?”
“Yes. And do you know what she said?”
Seok Tae-ui looked at Seok Ga-yak as if urging him to continue.
“Can I help?”
Hahahaha. Seok Ga-yak burst into laughter.
Seok Tae-ui’s expression was caught between laughter and tears.
“That girl is truly… foolish.”
Seok Ga-yak turned serious.
“Calling Yeon foolish?”
…
“But… it’s not entirely wrong either.”
* * *
I arrived back at the Baek Li Estate when night had fully fallen.
Beneath the cascading starlight, I descended from the horse cradled in Father’s arms. The moment my feet touched the ground, I tugged urgently at his hand.
“Hurry, please hurry.”
“What is the matter?”
I grasped Father’s hand and scurried toward Father’s Room.
Geum-swe observed my haste and spoke.
“My goodness, Miss, where are you going? You should bathe first….”
“Just a moment!”
I entered the chamber with Father and closed the door behind us. After confirming no one lingered nearby, I opened my mouth to speak.
“Father.”
I placed my hand firmly upon the table and looked up at him, though my small stature undermined the gravity of my expression.
“If the Jegal Family Head’s earlier conjecture proves correct… couldn’t I expel poison just as I did with Seok Ga-yak this time?”
Father’s lips parted slightly. He exhaled a somewhat deflated breath before speaking.
“Even at Seok Tae-ui’s Residence, they urged us to return home quickly. Was that the reason for your urgency?”
“Yes! I’ve wanted to tell you since we were at Seok Tae-ui’s Residence!”
“I see.”
I furrowed my brow slightly. His response felt oddly lukewarm.
Father continued speaking.
“I am grateful. You have shown admirable thinking. However….”
He seemed to be choosing his words carefully. I narrowed my eyes, studying him intently.
“Your idea is not without merit, but… if the Jegal Family Head’s theory were correct, would I not have attempted to eliminate it myself?”
“…!”
Upon reflection, it was obvious.
‘How could I have overlooked something so evident? It should have been clear….’
The realization struck me immediately. I had become intoxicated by my own abilities, failing to observe my surroundings properly. All strength drained from me.
“I… was foolish.”
Seeing my dejected expression, Father extended his hand.
“That is simply your nature.”
Father slowly stroked my head as he spoke.
“When even the faintest glimmer of hope appears, your vision clouds, and you lose all sense of reason.”
I recognized the weight of experience in Father’s words. He was the one who had fed me the Heavenly Elixir despite uncertain hope.
“Do not trouble yourself overmuch.”
“….”
Yet his consolation did not lift my spirits immediately. I wished to sink into the earth itself. Shame and disappointment consumed me….
But unlike me, Father’s lips curved upward slightly—he appeared quite pleased, in fact.
Father spoke in an amused tone.
“Seeing you make such a mistake, I am reminded that you are still but a child.”
“….”
He was not even teasing! I was mortified, yet instead of comfort, he seemed delighted by my childishness…!
I bit my lip firmly before speaking.
“Then rest, Father. I shall take my leave.”
I trudged toward the door and placed my hand upon it.
Father spoke.
“Yeon, would you examine me once?”
“Examine what?”
“My meridians. You wanted to inspect them, didn’t you?”
Though his tone was gentle, as if coaxing a child, it was a proposal I could not refuse without seeming ungrateful.
* * *
I trudged back to my chamber and collapsed onto the sleeping quarters.
“Ahhhh.”
A contented sigh escaped me. There truly is no place like home.
What an utterly foolish misunderstanding I had harbored. I thrashed about, flailing my limbs with abandon.
At that moment, Geum-swe entered through the door and started at the sight of me.
“You said you’d only be gone briefly, yet you vanished for days—oh my, what are you doing?”
“Just…”
Geum-swe gazed at me with an affectionate smile and spoke.
“Wash yourself and rest. Hot water is prepared.”
“Ugh, just a moment longer… I want to lie here a bit more.”
I dodged Geum-swe’s hands and rolled about like a pastry, speaking as I did.
“Has anything happened?”
“No, nothing at all.”
As she said this, Geum-swe handed me several small notes.
‘So Nok is managing well.’
I held out a while longer before being dragged by Geum-swe into the bath. After washing and lying down to sleep, a problem arose.
‘I cannot… sleep.’
When I thought about it, I had only just awakened after sleeping for three days, and not even half a day had passed since then.
Sleep would not come to me.
As I lay still, the memory of examining Father’s entire meridian network returned to me. Though I had scrutinized his complete meridian system down to the tertiary channels, there was nothing unusual about the inner energy flow that had been blocked before, nor any difference from others.
‘Rather, it felt like an expansively vast meridian network.’
Throughout the complete circulation, there was not a single obstruction—it flowed seamlessly. It felt less like I was actively guiding the energy and more as though I were being drawn along by the meridians themselves.
Did I newly appreciate Father’s caliber? Particularly when compared to the Jegal Family Head. His severed meridians stood in stark contrast to Father’s meridian network.
‘Indeed, more so than the Heavenly Fate Golden Soul Pill… wait, where did Dwae-ji go?’
That creature would come to the sleeping quarters every night and sleep beside me. Yet since I returned today, I had not seen him once.
Surely he was managing well enough… but the image of him chasing after me and crying at the end surfaced in my mind.
I rose, donned my outer robe, and left the chamber. Geum-swe was nowhere to be seen, and after walking a short distance, I spotted Eon-du emerging from Father’s residence.
Eon-du saw me and asked.
“Young Miss? The Young Master stepped out briefly.”
“Again? Ah, but I didn’t come to see Father. Have you perhaps seen the… White Cat?”
“I haven’t seen him today. Oh, now that I mention it, that cat hasn’t been eating well since you left, Young Miss.”
“What? Why wouldn’t he eat?”
“Who knows? Perhaps because we teased him by calling him Dwae-ji?”
“Does that even make sense?”
I shook my head and turned away. Eon-du followed, speaking.
“Where are you going?”
“To search where the White Cat might be.”
“It’s dark. Let me come with you.”
“No. I’m fine. I’m going there.”
“Ah… um, there. Understood.”
My feet carried me directly to the Separate Residence, heavily guarded. Where the Jegal Family Head was staying.
It wasn’t far from my Residence Quarter. My brisk pace gradually slowed as the Separate Residence came into view.
There was a figure standing before the pavilion’s chamber door.
“Father?”
Mu-yeong turned to face me and bowed his head silently in greeting.
I spoke with slight bewilderment.
“Father, what are you doing here?”
“Nothing much.”
Just then, Mak-chu, the Jegal Family Head’s old servant, opened the chamber door and emerged.
“Young Miss, you’ve returned!”
I asked quickly.
“Mak-chu, why is Father here?”
“Ah, while you were away, the Great Master personally checked on the Family Head’s vital energy.”
The word “personally” suggested that while I slept, Father had examined the Jegal Family Head’s life force.
Father regarded Mak-chu with a stern expression—a look that seemed to ask why he’d said such a thing. Mak-chu appeared bewildered, unable to comprehend.
At this point, Father spoke as though resigned.
“I thought you’d be concerned, so I looked after it.”
I narrowed my eyes, gazing at him before rushing into his embrace.
“Father, you know I love you most in this world, don’t you?”
Mu-yeong’s expression revealed nothing, but Father’s ears flushed slightly with embarrassment.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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